Each year ''National Journal'' publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year.

+

Each year ''National Journal'' publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.

John Hoeven (b. March 13, 1957, in Bismarck, North Dakota) is a Republican member of the U.S. Senate from the state of North Dakota. Hoeven has served in this position since January 3, 2011 and is currently in his first term. He was elected to the Senate in 2010, having defeated Democratic-Nonpartisan League candidate Tracy Potter and Libertarian Keith J. Hanson in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Hoeven's seat will come up for election again in 2016 and his term expires January 3, 2017.

Prior to joining the U.S. Senate, Hoeven spent ten years serving as North Dakota's 31st governor. When Hoeven ran for, and won, election to Congress, he was still in the middle of his third term as governor. In order to assume his senate seat, he had to resign the governor's post. The vacancy created by Hoeven's transition out of the state's chief executive office activated the lieutenant governor's duty as first in the line of succession. Fellow RepublicanJack Dalrymple -- Hoeven's running-mate in 2000, 2004 and 2008 -- officially took over as governor in Jan. 2011. Dalrymple went on to win a full term in the office in 2012.[1]

Hoeven's professional background includes over a decade as a bank executive. Most notably, he spent the seven years leading up to his election as governor in the role of president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota.[2] Until his major debut on the state government stage during his successful 2000 gubernatorial campaign, Hoeven's career and name were tied predominantly to his work in the private sector. However, from 1998-2000, Hoeven boosted his political profile through his service as 47th district chair of the North Dakota Republican Party.

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Hoeven is a more moderate right of center Republican Party vote. As a result, he may break with the Republican Party line more than his fellow members.

Biography

Hoeven was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. He holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a Master's degree from Northwestern University.[2]

After graduating from Northwestern in 1981, Hoeven entered the private sector work force. In 1986, he began a nearly fifteen year career as a banking executive. Hoeven spent six years as executive vice president for First Western Bank. He went on to hold the title of president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota. Hoeven left the latter post in 2000 in order to become Governor of North Dakota. He served 10 years in the governorship before his election to the U.S. Senate.[2]

From 1998-2000, prior to his first election to statewide political office, Hoeven served as chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party's 47th district.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Hoeven's academic, professional and political career:[3]

1979: Graduated from Dartmouth College

1981: Graduated from Northwestern University

1986-1993: Worked as Executive Vice President, First Western Bank

1993-2000: Was President/Chief Executive Officer, Bank of North Dakota

Issues

Presidential preference

Fiscal Cliff

Hoeven voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by a 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.[7]

Drones filibuster

On March 6, 2013, Senator Rand Paul (R) led a 13-hour filibuster of President Obama's CIA Director nominee, John Brennan. Paul started the filibuster in order to highlight his concerns about the administration's drone policies. In particular, Paul said he was concerned about whether a drone could be used to kill an American citizen within the United States border, without any due process involved. Paul and other civil liberties activists criticized President Obama for not offering a clear response to the question. A total of 14 senators joined Paul in the filibuster -- 13 Republicans and one Democrat.[8][9][10]

According to the website Breitbart, Hoeven was one of 30 Republican senators who did not support the filibuster.[11][12]

The day after the filibuster, Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to Paul, responding to the filibuster. Holder wrote, "Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on U.S. soil? The answer to that is no."[13]

Elections

2010

On November 2, 2010, John Hoeven won election to the United States Senate. He defeated Tracy Potter (D) and Keith J. Hanson (Libertarian) in the general election.[14]

U.S. Senate, North Dakota General Election, 2010

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

John Hoeven

76.2%

181,689

Democratic-Nonpartisan League

Tracy Potter

22.2%

52,955

Libertarian

Keith J. Hanson

1.6%

3,890

Total Votes

238,534

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Hoeven is available dating back to 2010. Based on available campaign finance records, Hoeven raised a total of $3,801,481 during that time period. This information was last updated on March 25, 2013.[15]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Hoeven missed 12 of 582 roll call votes from Jan 2011 to Apr 2013, which is 2.1% of votes during that period. This is worse than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving.[19]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Hoeven paid his congressional staff a total of $1,354,548 in 2011. He ranked third on the list of the lowest paid Republican senatorial staff salaries and ranked third overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall, North Dakota ranked 17th in average salary for Senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $954,912 in fiscal year 2011.[20]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Hoeven's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,487,041 to $3,457,000. That averages to $22,073,031, which is higher than the average net worth of Republican senators in 2011 of $6,358,668. His average net worth increased by 2.09% from 2010.[21]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Hoeven's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $-12,073,898 and $55,317,999. That averages to $21,622,050. The average net worth of Republican senators in 2010 was $7,054,258.[22]

National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.

2012

2011

Voting with Party

2013

John Hoeven voted with the Republican Party 82.6% of the time, which ranked 34th among the 46 Senate Republican members as of June 2013.[25]

2011

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Hoeven voted with the Republican Party 88.5% of the time. This ranked 32nd among the 47 Senate Republicans in 2011.[26]

Personal

Hoeven currently resides in his hometown of Bismarck with his wife, Mical. The couple has two children, Marcela and Jack, and one grandson, Crew.[2]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term John + Hoeven + North Dakota + Senate

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.